Attack of the Flesh Eating Plants from Outer Space
Wilmington - In 1995, one of the biggest news items was the discovery that a hunk of
Martian rock possibly containing alien microbes had embedded itself in our
polar ice millions of years ago. The thought that life could be brought to
our planet onboard a meteor was big news, but what if this is the tip of the
proverbial iceberg?
At the center of a current scientific debate is a more controversial, but
seemingly plausible debate: Were certain plants brought down to earth
onboard a comet or meteor?
Take Me To Your Leader: The Alien Plants Are Here
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The "place to be seen" in science is the Carolina Bay area, so named
because of the large number of Bay trees that grow there in the wild. Dr.
Alex Tystromb, Professor of Botany at the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington, believes that as many as seven specific plant species may have
actually been delivered to our planet from another place. His most famous
example is the "Venus Flytrap," a carnivorous plant with a mouth like movement
that traps small insects for ingestion by the plant.
"The plant is native to this area and this area alone," says Dr. Tystromb.
Almost no species of plant can only be found in one place. Also, I'm no
geologist, but if you look at aerial photos of the Carolina Bay area, you
will see a series of what appears to be craters. It's as if something from
crashed here, bringing these plants with them. Geologists have looked at
the Bay area and noticed the elliptical depressions in the earth, noting how
they look like impact craters."
Dr. Irving Thompson of Dartmouth University's Paleontology department is Dr.
Tystromb's main opposition. "You can clearly trace the evolution of these
plants. It's not like they just suddenly appear in the fossil record one
day. Whenever people don't understand something on earth, they go for the
easy answer. They say things come from outer space. It's really nonsense."
"Is it nonsense, really?" Asks Tystromb. "I thought it was the aim of
science to look for answers wherever they could be found... No matter where.
These plants are native to one place only. I don't believe that there is a
logical explanation for that alone."
For over thirty years, there has been a search in that area to find any
evidence of an impact of any kind. Not a single fragment of any kind of rock
from outer space has yet to be discovered. "That makes sense," says Dr.
Tystromb. "It is a swampy area. Any rock that's been there for millions of
years is likely to erode away to nothing, or to be buried under silt at the
bottom of the bay."
"This debate is fruitless. [Dr. Tystromb] will come up with any defense to
prove his hypothesis. It's unscientific to come up with the answer and then
look only for support for your idea. I believe Dr. Tystromb needs to look
more carefully at his pet idea and see what's really going on in the Bay
area." Says Dr. Thompson, who adds "I'd love it if these plants were from
outer space. I just don't see the evidence being gathered, and this is an
old idea, dating back to the 1930's."
sources
Interview with Dr. Alex Tystromb March 13, 1998, Dr. Irving Thompson
March 15, 1998
Photo by Derek Barnes